Wow, I knew the US treated enemy combatants badly but I didn’t know the same applied to those who were their friends
Former Navy man works for company in Baghdad. Man detects strange goings-on in company. Reports strange goings-on to FBI. Man is told to leave company. Man contacts US embassy in Baghdad for help. Company gets raided and man is imprisoned in Baghdad for being a security risk and associating with the people he was informing on (via This Modern World).
He said he had also witnessed another employee giving American soldiers liquor in exchange for bullets and weapon repairs.
I want to know what punishment the American soldiers received. Nothing like Mr Vance suffered, I presume. I’m surprised that his friend, who was also wrongfully imprisoned, went back to Baghdad to work, although I’m sure he’d be buggered (pun intended) if he did anything to help the American troops.
Why didn’t they let Vance tell them that he had a contact in the FBI and then proceed to verify his story and then let him go? How did it get so FUBAR’d? I bet it has something to do with no one wanting to take responsibility if they let him go and he did turn out to be a baddie.
I bet this makes Iraqis feel safe about working with the troops in their country.
Outrage fatigue
It sounds so ‘trendy’ but it’s true, I’m just too tired and cynical to be angry about the deceit any more: “So, in the fall of 2002, before going to war, we had it on good authority from a source within Saddam’s inner circle that he didn’t have an active program for weapons of mass destruction?” — 60 Minutes: CIA Official Reveals Bush, Cheney, Rice Were Personally Told Iraq Had No WMD in Fall 2002, informationliberation (via Newsvine)
Zarqawi’s gone
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been killed. It’s a shame a human life has to end in such violence, but you reap what you sow.
You and your pals kind of made sure of that, didn’t you?
No shit, sherlock: Asked when all U.S. forces would finally pull out of Iraq, Bush told a White House news conference: “That will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq.” — Bush sees US in Iraq after his term
A long, long road ahead
The British army will be sending the Black Watch back to Iraq. With more troops likely to be deployed after the June 30 handover.
The US army is, of course, also reportedly in for the long haul.
“But we also expect that (for) the unity of command and to make sure there is no confusion as to what we’re doing with respect to security, they will put those troops under the direction of the multi-national force commander, who will be an American.”
Who is not answerable to the International Criminal Court, I’m sure.
Back when the US government refused to ratify the ICC, their reason was to avoid politically-motivated suits against their citizens. It appears to me that their behaviour since this event would probably have caused far more allegations against them, political or not, had they ratified it.
Is the US government incredibly psychic and evil? Inquiring (and conspiracy-loving) minds want to know.